sundries

[rm]

I start fencing tomorrow. OMGYAY. I am nervous. Kali asked if I were nervous the other day.

"Like, nervous how?" I asked.

"Not good at it, not like it, stuff like that."

"Oh, no, I know I'll love it, and I'll probably be good at it. my body nows how to learn things. I'm nervous about starting at the beginning. I'm nervous about getting all the courtesies of interaction correct and then whether I do or don't being told I take them too seriously. I'm bad at starting from the beginning, and of not being good at things. Even when I danced, I hated practicing, hated it. and this is really the only place to do this around here, so I have to be nice to everyone, and like them, and not get embarassed, because there is no plan b."

"It'll be good for you," she said.

Well, yes, but no one ever ants to hear that!

Today I must get not my proper uniform, but my uniform appropriate clothes.


The shoot last night, for those of you following along with that, went well. Chances are none of it will ever be seen even if the show does get picked up, this is just for a sizzle real to sell the show. So I'd have a choice again later to opt in or out. And I cleaned my room! All in all, a win win. I'm a bit sore from doing it all though. That's good, however.

Momentarily, I have to go into the office (no fun!) and then to my other job (albeit, not for long, although that has a tendency to fit the space available.

When i get home, I'm really going to finish the ends on my saree.


I have started _another_ Richard and Alec fic. I need opinions on some things for those that have read Privilege of the Sword. Most immediately, I need to know, how long do you think their sea journey is? Two, what is the cause of Richard's blindness. I could Google around and come up with a theory, but I have an eye phobia, and actually, would totally freak out if I did that, so can someone just tell me in an illustration free way what they think? Thanks.

Meanwhile, in other fic news, we are working on a surprise for Halloween for you all, although it may be up a day or two after, because October is the cruellest month logistically. Kali has her WB shows, Swordspoint seems to be where my solo fanfic energy is going right now. I actually have come to a -very_ clear conclusion about why, and what my shit is about Richard (aside from what I'v already spoken about), but I'd rather leave all that aside. those of you who can deduce it fine, but otherwise, as per usual, I am funny about my wounds.

I also need to finish that story with Krum in it, as I'm using it for the Paintbrush and Quill society entry, and I need to get it to my artist to art. I will also try to post more Ghosts today.


Things I must get today:
- gluten-free mayo
- toilet paper
- toothpaste


I still don't know what's going on with possible work on 3lbs Tuesday or Wednesday. Work is good, but the timing is crap; if I don't get it, I won't complain.


Hey, my herbalism class is coming up soon too. Basically tomorrow I start fencing, next weekend is dance (oh God, dance Sunday, fencing Monday. Way to die, but 48 hours of archaic charm nonetheless) and then the following weekend I do herbalism on Saturday. This is incredible, really. Is there anything else I could build into my life to make it more full of charm and excellence? I can't imagine what. Perhaps we're all relieved.

I think that is all I have to report, but I want more, more!


Oh, finally, rothko: Does your husband still think skunks are cool? Maybe he should enter the skunk poetry contest.

Comments

[pennswoods.livejournal.com]

Gah! All these cool things you do - your life is so exciting!

*resumes writing teh cover letter from hell*

[rothko.livejournal.com]

heh, i sent that to him a week or two ago. yes, he still loves them. skunks and weasels of all kinds.

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

Two, what is the cause of Richard's blindness.

I was talking about this with someone before, actually! If you are still looking for information, here's what we came up with: the two most likely explanations seem to be cataracts or Macular degeneration. In the first, the lens thickens and eventually begins to blur and cut off all your sight, and is usually associated with aging or can be a side-effect of some dieases or ultraviolet exposure. They are very, very common.

Macular degeneration is rarer; it's what happens when the light-sensing cells in your eyes stop working. It's known because of the way you can still see around the edges (though that happens sometimes with cataracts, it's one of the basic symptoms of macular degeneration). it, too, is mainly associated with age, but can also be genetic, a side effect of hypertension, or be caused by smoking.

[rm.livejournal.com]

Thank you for this. I think I'm going to run with the macular degeneration, just 'cause it sounds closer, although I suppose it doesn't really matter other than "how fast do these things happen" -- I'm trying to figure out the time from Richard noticing something is wrong to Richard realizing it's probably not just him being tired to Richard realizing he has to say something to Alec about it.

Also, I remember that Katherine doesn't notice he's blind at first at all, and cataracts that are severe are visible, right?

As an aside though, I knew a girl when I was growing up who was born with cataracts and didn't have them removed until she was a few years old. In that time, here eyes started moving back and forth constanctly in an effort to see around the cataracts, and even after the surgery, they never stopped doing that.

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

Google tells me that the time range from onset to severe impairment can range from less than a year to four years, or much longer- some people never lose much sight at all. The quicker variants are less common, and average is around 2.5 years. Also, it often doesn't go at the same pace in each of the eyes. (Don't you love the internet? Thirty seconds on google and I have the sorts of details that would have taken days to track down.)

Yeah, cataracts make your eyes look milky. I suppose it's possible she wouldn't have noticed, if she never particularly stared into his eyes, but macular degeneration does seem like a better fit.

Oh, strange. I suppose you can pick up habits in your first few years that become such a part of you that you never lose them.

[rm.livejournal.com]

Oooooh, that's a good timeline for fic too. Especially if Alec's being all throwing money at doctors and Richard just wants to be left alone because NO ONE MUST KNOW.

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

Which I'm sure is exactly what happened.

I can't find anything on historical treatments; today, you'd be given drug therapy, but that's obviously very modern. Catarcts were thought of as a congealed humour, but I don't know if that would overlap. A general theory seems to be that eye surgery was a bad idea, as it was more likely to cause problems than help, but on the other hand, cataract removal was usually done by itinerant practitioners. So, you are probably free to have doctors doing whatever you want.

[rm.livejournal.com]

Including just being puzzled. I'm glad there wasn't particularly treatment, because as I mentioned before, eye things entirely give me the heebie jeebies. I'm really abusing the hell out of Richard lately, I'm not sure why. He certainly deserves it less, but I suppose he's more capable of coping than poor dear Alec.

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

Eye things are pretty inherently gross. I think most people dislike details of them; I'm just used to it because I've had some problems with my own.

Ah, poor Richard. But I suppose that if you didn't torture your characters a little, you wouldn't have a very interesting story.